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Tip #4– Used Moving Supplies. Your friends, family and acquaintances most likely have many moving supplies that they can lend or give to you. Ask them for boxes, pens, packing tape, and blankets

Get packing supplies from someone who just moved.

that they don’t need. Blankets and sheets are a must for protecting furniture and easy to come by at Goodwill or yard sales. Post a flier at nearby apartment complexes asking anyone who has recently moved to let you salvage their gently-used packing paper and bubble wrap. Not only do used moving supplies lower the cost to move, but it also is a “green” best practice as your move will consume fewer resources.

Tip #5– The Off-season. The highest demand for moving equipment, vans, and workers is during the summer and at the start and end of the month. This means that prices are inflated at these times. Work with the seller or landlord at your new home to choose an off-peak move date.

Tip #6– Get an estimate and negotiate. Not all movers are the same. Begin the process of selecting a mover by asking friends referrals. Facebook is a great way to do this.

Once you have the names of a few movers, schedule in-home price quotes so that a consultant can perform a visual inventory. Show them absolutely everything you have from top to bottom and ask what the price estimate includes. Ensure there are no extra fees after the move. Tell each you are comparing companies and selecting the highest quality for the best price. Finally, make sure that your get the quote in writing.

Tip #7 – DIY! Get strong boxes and more packing material than you think you will need, including permanent markers to write contents on the boxes. Line up trusted friends well in advance and verify a few days prior to the move they will be there. Stage or number your items to be placed in the van in order to make it easier and faster for the movers. There are sites that offer efficiency tips on packing boxes and loading a truck to minimize space. If you’re driving long distance, you can even pack some pack some low-cost meals.

The bottom line: the more stuff you hoard and the less you prepare, the more expensive and stressful it is to move. If you follow some of the preceding tips, you can significantly lower the cost to move. Anyone with a moving story – and, by all means, share yours with us in the comments below – will agree that making a game plan and paring down possessions well in advance are key to saving money and finding Zen.

You need to be honest about what you really need to keep. Whether you are paying a professional, hiring two guys and a truck, renting a U-Haul, or using your friend’s van, more weight means more a more expensive move.

There are many easy ways to slim down. A great first step is to evaluate your bookshelves.

I have moved boxes upon boxes of new and used books from Oregon to New York (plus the three cities in between). I now shudder to add up the true price of each book, many of which I am guilty of never reading. An online price quote tool estimated an average move to cost $1.40 per pound.

One book can easily weigh one pound; a textbook or reference book often weighs more than 5 pounds. Now consider that the average household has between 100 and 400 books. You are potentially paying hundreds of dollars to move those books.

Cash4Books.net is referenced by many bloggers as a smart way to de-clutter for extra cash. This is a double-whammy win because not only do you keep from dishing out cash to move them, but by selling your books you also walk away with extra money to tip your mover, buy your friends pizza, or buy new books at your new location!

Also consider the storage fees and the valuable hours spent unpacking and finding nooks, shelves, and closets to hide or display your books that you may never read again.

Finally, measure your furniture and tape off the areas in your new home where you envision placing each piece. Host your own going-away party and let friends make offers on the items you can’t take. You’ll be able to visit anything to which you are emotionally connected later! I love propping my feet up on “my” coffee table in Brooklyn when I visit.

Tip #3 – Yard Sale!

Energizing your yard sale will get big spenders.

Energize your yard sale. Host it on the sunniest possible weekend that isn’t a holiday to get the most foot traffic. Post colorful “moving sale” signs on at least 10 corners within a one-mile radius; using PowerPoint slides printed on card stock and stapled to a garden stake is an easy way to accomplish this.

Include neighbors in the sale so that there is a lot of inventory. Also invite your friends to drop by and create buzz. Consider serving cheap lemonade, iced tea or inexpensive snacks to entice people to take a look. You can put a “free box” right out front so people driving by can see it. Slashing prices on the spot is a great way to keep visitors engaged and in the shopping mood. The effort will pay off; we banked $2,000 at a one-day yard sale and it felt more like a party than work!

One rampant side effect of our economic roller coaster is that hosting moving parties has become more common than throwing baby showers.

With the housing market what it is, statistics show that far more people are moving than they were just three years ago. Most are moving into shared spaces to save on rent or dump an unmanageable mortgage.

Those who are lucky to have landed a job must often accept that it requires relocation. And of course during the summer, college grads are returning home or moving on to the real world.

42 million Americans move each year, according to moving.com. That’s 15% of the population every year! And, since the average person will move 11 times, it’s fairly likely that you are preparing for a move right now.

Whether the move is to another state or across town, I am sympathetic. If you’ve ever moved, you know that the cost to move all of your beloved possessions from point A to B is quite high. The most expensive factor in moving is quantity – which boils down to size and weight. The heavier and bulkier your load, the harder it hits you in the pocketbook.

If you’re an optimist, you tell yourself this is a prime time to clean house. Simplify! Then as you start packing, you inevitably question how and why you have so much stuff. How did it all fit into the current space let alone the smaller spot you are headed for?

This is why first rule of moving is to PREPARE to move.

Tip #1 Start Early and Make a Budget

Literally take a few weeks to get organized in your head and in your house. When you wait, you end up tossing everything into boxes and taking twice as much you should. Planning will help you keep your stuff out of storage, allow you time to stock up on cheaper supplies, create a budget and ultimately lower the cost to move.

Will you do it yourself or hire a mover? Will it cost less to ship your car or drive and pay for gas? Will you need a hotel? Need to eat out? What about cleaning, connecting utilities, overlapping bills at your new and old places, security deposits, parking permits, pet fees, new drivers licenses, groceries for the empty fridge, and pizza and beer for your helpers?

Unanticipated expenses surprise every mover. Add 10 percent to your final budget for the unexpected.

Check out Part 2 and Part 3 for more great tips to lower the cost to move!